


Matchmaker, Matchmaker

by shortystylee



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Meet-Cute, One Shot, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2018-11-02 14:51:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10946775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shortystylee/pseuds/shortystylee
Summary: Playing around on Tinder when you're a bit drunk is always a good idea, right?Especially when the next profile comes up and it's him. The guy who stalks into Cantina Coffee every weekday morning at quarter to eight on the nose and orders a 20oz almond milk latte, with an extra shot, and a vegan blueberry lemon muffin, and puts $2 in the tip jar when most people just throw in their change or a straw wrapper.Kylo R., the profile states. 31, Coruscant, Designer. Designer of what, she thinks, that's vague. But he is attractive. Gorgeous, actually. He's curt when they interact in the mornings, and she had always assumed he's rushing off to work, some office in a high rise downtown, judging by the well-tailored suit he wears and the fancy shoes.She swipes right without even bothering to flip through his pictures or read his About Me, then throws her iPhone into the couch cushions.She gets up to go into the kitchen, grabs another beer and a party sized bag of Doritos, and hears her phone chime. When she picks up her phone and unlocks it, a Tinder notification pops up.It's a Match! You and Kylo have liked each other.





	1. Chapter 1

She's sort of drunk. _Tipsy, no, just buzzed_ , she rationalizes. This is the only time she does this. _Left, left, left_. She takes another drink from her beer, one of the ones that Poe buys and leaves in the fridge. _Ew, left_ , once again. Just because she wants to get laid and is drunk enough to open up Tinder does not mean she's desperate for whoever is within a five mile radius and is currently awake. She can't quite put a finger on what's been wrong with all the guys she's swiped left on, but needless to say, she wasn't impressed.

 

The next profile comes up and Rey almost chokes on her beer.

 

It's him. The guy who stalks into Cantina Coffee every weekday morning at quarter to eight on the nose and orders a 20oz almond milk latte, with an extra shot, and a vegan blueberry lemon muffin, and puts $2 in the tip jar when most people just throw in their change or a straw wrapper.

 

Kylo R., the profile states. 31, Coruscant, Designer. _Designer of what_ , she thinks, _that's fucking vague_. But he is attractive. Gorgeous, actually. He's curt when they interact in the mornings, and she had always assumed he's rushing off to work, some office in a high rise downtown, judging by the well-tailored suit he wears and the fancy shoes.

 

_Oh, fuck it_. She swipes right without even bothering to flip through his pictures or read his About Me, then throws her iPhone into the couch cushions. _Fat chance, kid_ , she tells herself. It's not like just because you swipe right means you get to fuck him. He has to swipe right on you too.

 

And what's the chance of that? It's Friday night and you think a guy like that is sitting around on his fancy ass couch, in his financial district loft, drinking some cheap beer, and messing around on Tinder, lamenting his lack of a sex life?

 

She gets up to go into the kitchen, grabs another beer and a party sized bag of Doritos, and hears her phone chime. _Probably Poe checking up on me_ , she thinks.

 

Chips in hand, she plops back down on the couch, ready to watch some How Its Made reruns, text Poe that _really, she's fine_ , and have yet another nice night in, when she picks up her phone and unlocks it.

 

A Tinder notification pops up.

 

_Fucking hell. This cannot be real. I just matched with Kylo._

 

XxXxX

 

Hux would have a goddamn field day if he knew what he was doing this evening, he'd never hear the end of it. Phas would ruffle his hair because she can, she's taller and stronger than him and she knows it. _Left, left, left_. He's had a drink or four and apparently this is what he does on Friday nights when he's bored, or horny, or both. He won't call it lonely, though that's probably what it really is. He'd rather be alone in his condo than out with Hux and Phasma downtown, watching them rotate between arguing with each other or showering each other with sickeningly sweet PDA. He doesn’t mind Phasma by herself, and if he admits it, he enjoys her office antics and pranks she plays on Hux despite their relationship.

 

But each profile that appears next on the screen only keeps reminding him that it's been forever since he's swiped right on anybody on Tinder, and, _oh, well, left again_.

 

Kylo's about to say fuck it, and call it a night, when the next profile appears and he's lucky as all hell that there's building code that says the railing on his balcony needs to be a meter high, or else he thinks he'd be falling seven floors.

 

It's her. The cheery brunette from Cantina who grabs his muffin from the pastry case and does the intricate foam work on his almond latte every morning before work. _Rey_ , he remembers, from the name tag on her apron. She always seemed way too happy for having to be at work at six when the coffee shop opened.

 

Rey K., 22. Coruscant, Barista/Grad Student. Interesting, though he guesses he could've figured out the majority of that out himself. He flicks through her photos, and there's one that makes his stomach flip. She's standing, more like balancing, atop a large piece of driftwood as a storm is coming into the harbor behind her, and her arms are outstretched, like she's waiting for it to engulf her. There's whitecaps crashing on shore, but what makes his breath catch is her hair - he's never seen it undone before - and the wind is blowing it around her shoulders. The contrast between the dark horizon threatening rain and how radiantly she's beaming at the camera is startlingly beautiful.

 

_But you already knew she was pretty, you creep_. Ever since his office had moved across town and he'd had to change from his previous coffee shop to Cantina he'd been hopelessly infatuated with her. She remembered his order immediately, and would ask questions about his day or work week, always remembering the small details he chose to share with her, and he found himself giving up more information than he normally would to any other acquaintance. She'd draw something on his coffee cup most days, usually smiley faces or what he _thinks_ are supposed to be cats, and every so often she would refuse his payment, keying in her employee code on the register instead.

 

_That doesn't mean she's interested in you_ , he tells himself. _That's just what baristas do, par for the course._

 

_Besides_ , he thinks, sitting down on the chair on the balcony and taking another drink, _what's he chance that a 22 year old is sitting at home alone on a Friday?_ She's probably out with her friends down at the waterfront area. He figures she doesn't even have the age range set high enough in the app’s settings for his profile to be on her radar.

 

Tonight though, tonight's he's had more than enough to drink to make potentially stupid decisions. "Oh, the hell with it," he says, and swipes right on her profile.

 

Kylo is just about to press the lock button when his phone starts making noise and vibrating. His eyes get wide in disbelief when he turns it back over in his hand, sucking in a quick breath through his nose as he reads, _It's a Match! You and Rey have liked each other._

 

XxXxX

 

He's here. It's a Saturday and he's walking into Cantina, the first time she's ever seen him not on a weekday, and also the first time she's seen him dressed in something aside from his work clothes. He's dressed smartly still, dark jeans, white V-neck t-shirt, and a black leather jacket that looks vintage, if she had to guess. She sees a pair of Vans on his feet that look like they’ve seen better days though, and his hair is a bit less perfectly styled than it is Monday through Friday, so Rey figures he’s actually a real person, not just some fancy suit-wearing robot handcrafted to run on espresso and muffins. Assuming he wants his regular order, she busies herself with getting it ready, instead of calling out a greeting to him like she’s supposed to do when any customer enters.

 

"Why didn't you reply to my message last night?"

 

_So much for small talk_. _“Hey, Kylo, how was your work week? Fancy seeing you on a Saturday. Message anyone on Tinder recently?”_

 

Rey takes a second to look behind her for any coworkers and around him, looking for anyone she might not want to overhear this conversation. "I was already pretty drunk and it was getting late," she replies, half-truths. She hands him a bag containing his muffin and pushes his drink across the counter to him. The whole truth is that she had no clue how to reply to the message he’d sent in the app last night, even though it was polite and made absolutely no mention of hooking up. _Hey, you’re Rey from Cantina, right? I thought I recognized you._ "As you can see, I had to be at work this morning."

 

"Did you only swipe right on me because you were drunk?"

 

She waits a moment before answering. "No," she exhales, hands gripping the edge of the counter as she replies. He’s looking right at her now, in a way that would normally make her uneasy, but instead she looks square back at him, not breaking eye contact.

 

"Good." He holds his phone out under the scanner to pay, putting it back in his pocket once it beeps.

 

"What?"

 

"Have lunch with me today." It's not a question he's posing, she realizes. _God, he's blunt_.

 

"I work 'til one thirty," she explains, a little curious as to why she's making half-assed excuses, thinking maybe it's so she doesn't come off quite as interested, or desperate, as she actually is.

 

He shrugs. “That’s fine. You’ll be hungry after your shift anyways.”

 

They make plans for two o’clock, him suggesting some café she’s heard Poe mention before, and she passes him her phone number on a Cantina Coffee napkin, scribbling it below the logo. He folds it neatly and puts it in an inside pocket of his jacket before he leaves.

 

The second the door closes behind him Rey’s got her cell phone out, sending a frantic message to the group text with Finn and Poe, saying that’s she’s gonna need one of them to drop some clean clothes off at Cantina before her shift is over, and that she’ll explain everything later. Finn replies as she expects, _of course, Peanut, whatever you need_ , and Poe asks if she got into another fight with a carton of soy milk.

 

As she’s typing out exactly what clothes she wants and where they are in her room, her phone vibrates with another text, this time from an unknown number.

 

_Rey, it’s Kylo. Wanted to send you the address. Looking forward to lunch_. It buzzes again and sends a map pin to a place called Magnolia Café, over in the Easton neighborhood, not far from the little Craftsman bungalow she lives in.

 

_Thanks for the address. I’ll see you soon (smiley face emoji),_ she sends back, since she very well can’t ignore a message from him a second time.

 

She looks up the café on Yelp, sees a 4.8 star rating and pictures of a trendy looking building with outdoor seating covered by a large pergola, Sunday brunch specials, vegan mac & cheese, and hippies as far as the eye can see. _Not really what I’d expect from Mr. Suit & Tie_, Rey thinks, _but I didn’t expect to see him pop up, or shit, fucking match me on Tinder either_. She closes the app, deleting the clothing instructions she hadn’t sent her roommates yet, switching up her outfit choice for some a bit more Woodstock circa 1968.

 

XxXxX

 

“What was up with this morning, Rey?” Poe asks, handing her a tote bag of clothes over the counter. “You got a hot date or something?”

 

She shifts her weight from her right leg to the left, glancing down to look at her feet, and when she looks back up at Finn and Poe, the answer is written across her face with a bit of embarrassed blush and a shit-eating grin.

 

“You do!” Poe almost yells, but Finn gives him a look that reminds him to use his indoor voice inside the Cantina, no matter how excited he is. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

 

“Oh, ya know, just one of the weekday morning regulars.” _Maybe if I act real casual about it, like it’s normal, they won’t ask any questions._ She looks into the back of the store quickly to see if the shift manager is around, and when he’s nowhere to be found Rey grabs two scones out of the pastry case and passes them across the counter to Finn.

 

“A customer?” Poe asks. “How does that conversation go? He just come in here this morning and compliment how well you pull espresso shots? Or maybe, ‘Rey, I really admire the way you handle the steam wand.’”

 

_Guess not casual enough._

 

“Actually, it wasn’t at the shop,” she admits. “We sort of matched… on Tinder…”

 

“What?!” Finn yells, eyes wide as he forgets the look he’d just given to Poe about indoor voices.

 

“Sorry, Rey, you’ve offended my Finn’s delicate sensitivities,” Poe says, putting his hands over Finn’s ears. “Can you take a break? I need details, lady, stat.”

 

XxXxX

 

Kylo was bored, watching two sparrows on the sidewalk fight over a french fry, sitting at a table outside on the Magnolia Café patio. _If you wouldn’t have been so damn antsy and just gotten here on time, instead of twenty minutes early, you wouldn’t be in this situation_. He’d already waved the server away twice, finally acquiescing that, _fine, a water and an Arnold Palmer would be great_ , and had to convince her that he was, in fact, still waiting on someone to join him and had not been stood up. _Yet_ , he reminds himself.

 

Earlier, he’d finished his breakfast bought from Rey on his walk back to his apartment, showered, then spent an embarrassingly long amount of time wearing a towel around his waist, standing in his walk-in closet, trying to decide what to wear. _Certainly glad I can afford to live alone and don’t have to explain to anyone why it took me the same amount of time to get ready for this date as it would for one of the firm’s black tie galas_. He almost cringed thinking about the last one, even though it was thrown in honor of his latest building design completion. _Wait, shit. This is a date, right?_ Kylo figured that it was, he’d certainly have fucked her if she’d replied that she was interested in that sort of thing last night, and he’s a bit disappointed that it didn’t pan out that way. He’d tried to send a non-offensive first message, posing the question as if he wanted to make sure she was who he thought she was, but no reply on her end. The next morning, he found himself throwing on whatever clothes were nearest to him and walking on autopilot to Cantina, realizing halfway there that she might not even work Saturdays, but then when he opened the door she was there, and the words “have lunch with me today” all but tumbled out of his mouth.

 

His phone buzzed on the table, bringing him out of his thoughts. _Around the corner, be there in a minute._

 

He texts her back that he’s already got them a table on the patio, then goes back to feigning interest in the sparrows. He’s had plenty of time since he left Cantina this morning to go back and forth in his head about whether this is even a good idea or not. Randomly hooking up is one thing, you don’t need to really get along for that, but a lunch date? All he knows is that she probably likes coffee, and from her Tinder pictures assumes she has a pet Corgi and that she ran the Coruscant half marathon this spring.

 

“Kylo?” He stands to meet her, pushing his Wayfarers onto the top of his head. She’s got on this short flower printed sundress with a V-neck lower than would be appropriate most places, Birkenstock sandals, and a straw hat with a bow that matches the flowers on her dress. Her hair is wavy from the braided bun she’d worn it in for work and she’s these wearing heart-shaped sunglasses that make Kylo think someone’s gone traipsing through his subconscious and plucked out his dream girl.

 

“Rey,” he starts, “You look amazing. You didn’t need to get all dressed up for –”

 

“Holy shit,” Rey interrupts, her voice excited, “Are you wearing a Smiths shirt?” She cocks her head to the side and takes off her sunglasses to look at him.

 

He glances down at his t-shirt, like he’d forgotten what was on it after he so meticulously chose it this morning, smiling as he looked back up at her. _All of a sudden, I’ve got a really good feeling about this_.


	2. Chapter 2

“You wanna stop in at Magnolia on the way home?” Finn asks. They’d dropped off the outfit for Rey and Poe had only managed to weasel out the smallest of details about how Rey and her date had connected with each other, before a large group of customers came in so she had to once again make it appear like she was working, and Finn decided that he wanted to leave and get some lunch downtown.

 

“We just finished lunch not ten minutes ago and you practically inhaled a burger the size of a semi truck. You don’t need to eat again, do you?” Poe just stares, amazed that somehow Finn could still be hungry after that lunch. _If that burger was any bigger, it’d have been free if he finished it._

 

“No, I was thinking of getting an iced coffee, since it’s so nice out. Maybe get you one too, if you’re good that is.”

 

“I’m always good, you know that.” Poe replies, winking at him and giving his hand a squeeze.

 

Finn just rolls his eyes and Poe agrees that an iced coffee break is fine.

 

“You don’t know which of ‘the regulars’ Rey’s on that lunch date with, do you?” Poe asks a little while later in their walk to Magnolia. It’s only a few blocks away from their house, but the walk from Cantina and the downtown area takes about a half hour. He figures Finn might have some insight, his job lets him work from remotely home most days since and he usually would pack up and go to Cantina when he couldn’t seem to get anything done at home.

 

“Well, she said it’s a guy, so that narrows it down.” Finn starts, feeling like he’s playing an odd game of Guess Who. “There’s Grandpa Time, the old man who comes in as soon as the door is unlocked and lectures her about how much coffee used to cost back in his day… but I don’t think Rey’s into the octogenarians.”

 

“Isn’t there one named Mike? Mark?”

 

“Matt?” Finn offers.

 

“Yea! That guy.”

 

“The soccer dad with seven year old twins?” he asks, looking over to see Poe nodding his head. “Probably not. He actually came into the shop with his wife the other day, and I can bet she probably doesn’t let him date around.”

 

“Anyone else?”

 

“Well, the only one I’ve got is the one she calls Mr. Suit & Tie.”

 

“Oh? This sounds interesting,” Poe decides. “Like the Justin Timberlake song.”

 

“I guess. He can’t be too much older than us, but by the looks of it he’s got himself some cushy job downtown. Tailored suits, usually carries a large portfolio tube… and he’s got hair that could star in Pantene commercials. Seems to be the too serious for fun kind.”

 

“Oh, so not our Peanut’s type?”

 

Finn laughs himself out of breath at the thought of that, but as they round the corner to Magnolia he stops dead in his tracks. “Poe, stop,” he warns, taking his left hand back from his boyfriend and sticking it out in front of him, like when you brake too hard in the car.

 

“What?”

 

“Hit the deck,” Finn says through his teeth, then pulls him down to the ground with him to kneel behind a hedge.

 

“What the hell, Finn…” Poe says, confused. “You trying to pull my arm out of the socket?”

 

Finn shushes him, then whispers, “It’s him, and her. Look.” They both rise on their heels an inch or two to peek over the hedge. Sure as shit, there’s Rey at Magnolia, same outfit they brought for her, seated across from a tall man with wavy black hair.

 

“Okay, it’s Rey and her date, so what?”

 

“ _That’s_ Mr. Suit  & Tie.”

 

“Are you sure? Looks more like Mr. Jeans & Tee Shirt to me.” Elbow. “But that hair though. You were right on that.”

 

They’re too far away to hear the conversation that Rey and her date are having, and thankfully her back is to them so she’s got no idea she’s being watched. They see her lean forward, saying _something_ , something that must be funny since Suit & Tie practically explodes with laughter, loud enough that the group at the table next to them stares at them, and Rey comes up and out of her chair, reaching across the table and puts her hand over his mouth to silence him.

 

They kneel there for a few long moments, looking back and forth at each other, until Poe decides that they look a little suspicious, two grown men hiding on the sidewalk behind a shrub. “I… don’t think we should get coffee here.”

 

“I don’t think so either.”

                                                                                                                                       

“Starbucks?”

 

“Starbucks.”

 

XxXxX

 

Rey’s not sure what she’s said anymore to make him laugh so hard, something about if she worked with this “Hux” character that she’d have told him exactly where to stick it if he tried to pull shit like that, especially in the middle of a meeting.

 

If she’d have looked more closely at his profile on Friday night, she’d have realized he’s not always suit and tie, even though the first picture was. She assumes that’s because he’s well aware of how striking he is dressed up like that. Another picture shows him at the peak of a mountain, a wooden sign reading “Elevation 14,652 Ft Above Sea Level” next to him, and at his feet sits a shepherd mix with a graying muzzle and a red patterned bandanna around its neck, which seems a very… surburban… choice of dog for someone who came off as so sophisticated. Rey would’ve bet that he’d at least have something purebred, maybe even Coruscant Kennel Club registered with a fancy name on a certificate. She suddenly feels a bit posh for having a Corgi at home.

 

It’s a great shot of him though, one that actually shows his interests, since most of the guys she sees on Tinder just have pictures of them out at the bar… _or group photos so you aren’t 100% certain which person it actually is_ , she thinks. As she expected, none of the pictures are selfies, and save for the climbing picture, all the others seem as if they were shot by someone who knew what they were doing, especially one of him sitting under a tree in the downtown park, which she recognizes as the same one where she takes snack breaks between the undergrad classes she teaches. He’s miles more put together than she normally is, khaki colored denim jacket, chambray button down, and those same sunglasses he’s got with them today.

 

Rey comments that it seems like he’s a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and his reply catches her off guard.

 

“Maybe you’ll just have to come climbing with me sometime,” he says, between bites of the salad he’d ordered. “Have to get you climbing at the indoor gym a few times first though, get the hang of the ropes and belaying inside before we get you on the real stuff.”

 

“Is it far from here? Where you usually go.”

 

“If I’m not going for more than a day trip, no. You know those cliffs just outside the city?” he asks, and she nods that she does. “There’s actually some really good routes there. Not far from where your profile pic was taken, actually.”

 

“Is it difficult?”

 

“Some routes, yea.” He sees the worried look on her face and knows that she’s thinking about those Netflix documentaries about mountaineering and thinking she’ll need an ice pick, flares, and enough dehydrated food for a week. “Shit, don’t worry though. You just need a teacher.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Yes,” Kylo replies quickly. “You’re in luck, I happen to be excellent.”

 

She’d said something though, not long after that once they’d gotten back on the topic of his work, and while she was enjoying the loud genuine laugh she’d gotten out of him, she notices they’re getting side-eyed by the group at the table next to them, and before she knows what she’s doing she stands up and pushes her hand hard against his mouth to silence him.

 

And there she is, stock-still standing halfway upright, leaning over the table, touching him, as if that’s part of the deal yet. She breathes in and lets herself look across the table, and the second his gaze meets hers she feels him press a kiss into the palm of her hand. Rey’s eyes widen in surprise and she sucks in a sharp breath of air, ripping her hand away and running her thumb across the center of her palm. _Warm_.

 

“You wanna get out of here?”

 

She stands fully, metal chair legs scraping on the concrete patio, and she takes a drink to finish off the last of her water, nodding as she answers yes.


End file.
